If you want tasty spoils of empire, try a curry or Chinese. There’s a reason “pie and mash” is only served in London, it’s because the rest of the country wouldn’t stand for it.
A surprising number of the standard curry dishes you’ll find in the UK were invented here: the balti, madras, jalfrezi, vindaloo, phall and people still.fight over the origin of the tikka masala but likely here.
There were moves to get the balti registered as an EU traditional speciality for Birmingham but Brexit ruined that. It’s sad to see that the Balti Triangle, which I visited a lot back at in its heyday is a sorry shadow of itself.
Definitely give the balti a go if you are in a standard curry house but avoid the phall - I lived not far from the Balti Triangle for a while in the eighties and nineties and it was a revelation.
However, curry in Britain has moved on quite a bit since then and we have a lot more restaurants serving more authentic Indian food. So, if you can, check out good local Bengali, Sri Lankan, Nepalese, etc eateries - I’m an especially big fan of the last one as me default curry house is a locals Nepalese that has won a number of awards. I also have a top vegetarian Indian restaurant not a million miles away and their food is amazing.
Now I’m proper starving - mid-afternoon curry binge anyone?
The comment is in the spirit of the community and a) highlights how much “British” grub has been stolen from elsewhere during our imperialistic phase and b) how different it actually is from the actual food in the countries which inspired it (good luck getting a balti in India). I am always intrigued by the latter - getting my first donner kebab in Turkey was a revelation (it made the British “elephant leg” look worse than before) and I always like to check out what Chinese people are eating when I’m tucking into a banquet as there is virtually no overlap.
Doner kebab is actually twice removed from the original; British doner kebabs are based on the German doner kebabs created by Germany’s own Turkish population.
Jesus. Call them “German kebabs” and see how quickly Brits demand proper doner.
It does make my typo funnier because, after a dodgy “donner” I’ve suffered from “blitzen”. I used to blame that eleventh pint of Stella but now I know it’s those German kebabs.
What’s the blandest thing on the menu?
If you want tasty spoils of empire, try a curry or Chinese. There’s a reason “pie and mash” is only served in London, it’s because the rest of the country wouldn’t stand for it.
I had an absolutely exquisite curry in Burrow market.
That’s more like it - proper British cuisine.
Delicious
EnglishIndian foodA surprising number of the standard curry dishes you’ll find in the UK were invented here: the balti, madras, jalfrezi, vindaloo, phall and people still.fight over the origin of the tikka masala but likely here.
There were moves to get the balti registered as an EU traditional speciality for Birmingham but Brexit ruined that. It’s sad to see that the Balti Triangle, which I visited a lot back at in its heyday is a sorry shadow of itself.
Thanks for teaching me something! I want to try all of those curries now, I don’t think I’ve ever had the balti, madras, jalfrezi or phall.
Definitely give the balti a go if you are in a standard curry house but avoid the phall - I lived not far from the Balti Triangle for a while in the eighties and nineties and it was a revelation.
However, curry in Britain has moved on quite a bit since then and we have a lot more restaurants serving more authentic Indian food. So, if you can, check out good local Bengali, Sri Lankan, Nepalese, etc eateries - I’m an especially big fan of the last one as me default curry house is a locals Nepalese that has won a number of awards. I also have a top vegetarian Indian restaurant not a million miles away and their food is amazing.
Now I’m proper starving - mid-afternoon curry binge anyone?
It’s breakfast time for me, but I would still eat a curry. It’s one of my favorite dishes, and the spicier, the better.
Why avoid the phall?
It’s the hottest standard curry in the UK and has to be served on asbestos plates to stop it burning through the table. Possibly.
I would never call clearly Indian inspired dishes “British food” regardless of who or where it was invented.
The comment is in the spirit of the community and a) highlights how much “British” grub has been stolen from elsewhere during our imperialistic phase and b) how different it actually is from the actual food in the countries which inspired it (good luck getting a balti in India). I am always intrigued by the latter - getting my first donner kebab in Turkey was a revelation (it made the British “elephant leg” look worse than before) and I always like to check out what Chinese people are eating when I’m tucking into a banquet as there is virtually no overlap.
Doner kebab is actually twice removed from the original; British doner kebabs are based on the German doner kebabs created by Germany’s own Turkish population.
Jesus. Call them “German kebabs” and see how quickly Brits demand proper doner.
It does make my typo funnier because, after a dodgy “donner” I’ve suffered from “blitzen”. I used to blame that eleventh pint of Stella but now I know it’s those German kebabs.
And yet Hamburgers are listed as American food, even though they literally have Hamburg in their name.
You need to try a Pieminister mothership.
That sounds like a dirty euphemism and I refuse to look it up (in case it isn’t).